Assigned to HHS & COMPS                                                                                                  FOR COMMITTEE

 

 


 

 

ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Fifty-Third Legislature, Second Regular Session

 

FACT SHEET FOR S.B. 1022

 

DHS; homemade food products

 

Purpose

 

Establishes requirements for the preparation and packaging of cottage food products.

 

Background

 

The Arizona Department of Health Services (DHS) regulates the retail sale, distribution and storage of food as defined in statute. Specifically, DHS prescribes reasonably necessary measures to ensure that all food or drink provided for human consumption is free from unwholesome, poisonous or other foreign substances and filth, insects or disease-causing organisms.

 

Statute provides several exemptions to DHS rule for baked and confectionary goods that are considered not potentially hazardous and that are prepared in a kitchen of a private home for commercial purposes and that are subject to registration and labeling requirements (A.R.S. § 36-136).

 

Current statute requires an individual preparing the food or supervising the food preparation to: 1) obtain a food handler's card or certificate as required by the local county; and 2) register with an online registry to produce food in a private home for commercial purposes (A.R.S. § 36-136).  Additionally, baked and confectionary goods must be packaged with a label that states the address of the maker, including contact information, lists all the ingredients in the product and discloses the product was prepared in a home (A.R.S. § 36-136).  Current approved foods include cookies, sweet breads, cakes with hard icings or frostings, bagels, donuts, muffins and dry spice mixes (Department of Health Services).

 

The United States Food and Drug Administration produces the Food Code which is a set of model guidelines that assists various levels of government in food control by providing a technical and legal basis for regulating the food retail and service industries. Currently, DHS uses the 1999 Food Code as the basis of its rules for safe food handling procedures in the state.  Potentially hazardous food is generally defined as a natural or synthetic food that requires temperature control because it is in a form capable of supporting rapid and progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic microorganisms.

 

There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.

 

 

 

Provisions

 

1.      Establishes requirements for cottage food products, which are foods that are not potentially hazardous and are prepared in a home kitchen for commercial purposes by a registered individual.

 

2.      Classifies fruit jams and jellies, dry mixes made with ingredients from approved sources, dry pasta and roasted nuts as not potentially hazardous products.

 

3.      Excludes nut butters or other reduced-oxygen packaged products from those classified as not potentially hazardous.

 

4.      Modifies labeling requirements to include the name and registration number of the food preparer and production date, rather than their address and contact information.  

 

5.      Requires a label to be attached to the product rather than provided to the final consumer of the product.

 

6.      Requires the label to include the following statement: "This product was produced in a home kitchen that may process common food allergens and is not subject to public health inspection."

 

7.      Requires the person preparing the food or supervising the food preparation to complete a food handler training course from an accredited program and maintain active certification.

 

8.      Requires a food preparer to:

a)   display a certificate of registration when operating as a temporary food establishment;

b)   renew registration every 3 years; and

c)   update registration information within 30 days of a change.

 

9.      Redefines certain baked and confectionary goods as cottage food products.

 

10.  Makes technical and conforming changes.

 

11.  Becomes effective on the general effective date.

                                                           

Prepared by Senate Research

January 12, 2018

CS/JN/lat